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Alcohol Kills More College-Aged Youth Than 9-11

Are you infuriated at the masterminds behind the bombing of the twin towers? What if I were to tell you that there's another group of people that kill the same number of people every two years? Over the four years following graduation, they'll kill twice as many. Would you be infuriated at them? I'm not speaking of terrorists. I'm speaking of those that encourage others to drink in college.

A recent federally-funded study (1) found that college drinking contributes to 1,400 deaths each year. Drunk students fall off balconies, drown in swimming pools, die in auto accidents or from bingeing. But it also hurts the living, contributing to 500,000 injuries and at least 70,000 cases of date rape or other forms of sexual assault each year. Over 400,000 students end up having unprotected sex. (Side note: Especially for you girls. Date rape is extremely common in college. Spend time in groups with people you know very well.) That's millions of injuries every four years and thousands of deaths, tons of misery due to ignoring two biblical warnings: 1 - "Don't get drunk?" (Ephesians 5:18) and 2 - since you're not of legal drinking age in America, God's command to obey your authorities (Romans 13:1ff).

Many students have no desire to drink, but can't resist a room full of people with a beer in each hand. Can I show a little emotion here? This burns me up! And who's to blame? People who encourage others to drink either by having a beer in their hands or offering it to others.

I challenge you to get alone at some time this week - just you, God, His Word, a notepad and a pen. Go to your bedroom or a park bench or to the woods, but get alone. Then, while you're thinking straight, write down some standards that you want to govern your life.

You see, tons of people make their most important, life-impacting decisions at a Fraternity party following the dare of some idiot upper classman. At the extreme end, some will die of alcohol poisoning or following some crazy dare or initiation.

In Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul writes:

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

If you make your decisions while you're sober and thinking straight, you're more likely to  make wise decisions when someone turns up the heat.

(From Reach Out Illustration Database at www.reach-out.org . Written by Steve Miller, copyright April, 2002. Information Source: Study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, reported in April, 2002. Found in the Atlanta Journal, April 10, 2002, p. A16, by Bill Hendrick.)

Don't Drink and Drive

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